2022 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

SWINDERBY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE

SWINDERBY ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

held on 9th May 2022

Held at Swinderby Village Hall

Present: Cllr G Lloyd (Chair), Cllr. L Carter (Vice Chair), Cllrs. N Marris, G Beales, R Hodgson, J Gagg and S Longson

Clerk: S Aikman

Also in attendance:  Cllr M Thompson (LCC)

Public Forum

Cllr Thompson gave the following report:.
LCC Councillor Eagle & Hykeham West Annual Report 2021-2022
Covid19 Pandemic
Meetings of the County Council were held on Microsoft Teams for 18 months during the COVID19 pandemic. The Local Resilience Forum was mobilised to provide support for organisations and volunteers during the pandemic. Arrangements were made for council services to be maintained with many staff working from home. Together with District Councils financial and other support was provided to help businesses. County Councillors were allocated funding for recognition of community projects within their Divisions. From September 2021 the council returned to in-person meetings but has continued to work within Covid precautions. Many lessons have been learned from working through the pandemic and the best of these, where benefits have been identified, are being incorporated in a plan for "smarter working".

Highways
Changes took place with major contractors in April 2021. It is hoped that these will lead to more efficient and effective working and repairs. The Lincoln Eastern Bypass was a major work completed and opened. The North Hykeham Relief Road has been agreed and is moving to the next phase of development. Despite some temporary additional Government funding, £12 million was withdrawn from LCC Highways budget and replacing this from reserves has been agreed to mitigate a reduction in services.

Adult Social Care
The County Council has a responsibility to fund and commission adult social care. The way this is done is changing with a move to Integrated Care Systems which are currently being set up which aim to improve cooperative working with partners in the NHS and private care providers.

Looking ahead Parish Council and residents may be interested in:
Wildlife Grant
Lincolnshire County Council makes awards of grants for between £50 and £500 and up to 75% of total costs for projects in Lincolnshire that:

protect, improve or promote wildlife; promote access to and enjoyment of the countryside; local communities support and may undertake
The community wildlife grant is open to parish councils, charities and constituted voluntary groups with closing dates for applications on 1st April and 1st September each year.
Grants are awarded for:
tree & hedge planting; woodland improvement; hedge laying; village nature area creation repairing dry stone walls; access improvements to nature area; leaflets and information boards; wildlife surveys.

Cllr Overton.had sent through the Lincolnshire Independents feedback on the Local Plan.
Cllr Lloyd had given feedback on the Local Plan including biodiversity and the cap on development in villages.
 

1. Election of Chair and to receive the Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Following a vote it was unanimously resolved that Cllr G Lloyd be elected Chair of the Council.  Cllr Lloyd signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

2. To receive any apologies for absence
None.

3.To receive any declarations of interest
None.

4.Election of Vice-Chair
Following a vote it was unanimously resolved that Cllr L Carter be elected Vice-Chair of the Council.  Cllr Carter signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office
 

5.To receive the Annual Report of the Village Hall Committee
 

The Village Hall was closed for the early part of 2021 in accordance with Government Covid-19 guidelines. The part-time Post Office remained open to support the community need for banking etc. As the guidelines changed more activities were able to restart.

Covid secure measures including Q codes, hand sanitiser stations and enhanced cleaning procedures remained in place in line with guidelines.

The hall applied, and was granted, a Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grant of £8,000.00 in April (** incl. above)

The planned refurbishment of the main hall was completed in 2021 with all areas painted and re-carpeted while activity restrictions were in force.

PLANNED FOR 2022 -No major works are planned.
Ron Hodgson – 3rd May 2022

6.To confirm that the Parish Council continues to meet the requirements of the Parish Council’s (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2012 (SI21012/965)
Confirmed.

7.To receive the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting 4th April 2022 previously circulated to members
Following a vote it was resolved unanimously that the minutes from 6th April 2022 were an accurate record of the meetings.
Cllr Lloyd reported that he had written to Severn Trent, and they had confirmed that they were still looking for a more permanent solution and tankers were still being used at present.  Cllr Lloyd would ask North Scarle if they still had tankers for wastewater.  Increases from the re-purposing of Morton Hall, Kisimul School and the additional expected housing were still of concern.                                                                                                             ACTION: Cllr Lloyd.

8.Finance

1. To formally note Items of Income

2. To formally approve Expenditure since last meeting:

        Expenditure including Clerk’s salary, PAYE and pension approved unanimously

3. To approve Items of Expenditure
   .Following a vote it was unanimously resolved to approve the payments below

4. Bank reconciliation for the year to date was approved unanimously.

5. To review spend against budget
   Reviewed.

6. To consider quotes for a replacement laptop
   Quotes had been considered and following a vote it was resolved to purchase a new laptop at a cost of £509.51 plus the cost of transferring all files and programmes from the existing laptop.

7. To review the Clerk’s expenses
   The Clerk had now taken on work for an additional Parish Council and had split office costs between the two parishes.

8. To consider a request for funding towards Swinfest 2022
   Following a vote it was unanimously resolved to donate £100 to Swinfest 2022.

9. To receive the Internal Auditor’s report
   The Internal Auditor had sent the following report:
   From the checks that I have performed and from the information that I have seen, I can conclude that the accounts have been maintained to the highest of standards and I thank the Clerk for her careful attention to the accounts and the time she has taken to produce them
   I have looked at the bank statements and reconciliations, income and expenditure, invoices, payments, fixed asset register, risk assessments, VAT returns, salaries and PAYE returns as well as the minutes of the meetings, alongside the Council’s website.
   I have completed and signed the Internal Auditor page in the Annual Governance and Accountability Returns.
   The Chair thanked the Clerk for maintaining the accounts to a high standard.

10. To review the effectiveness of the system of internal control and consider the findings prior to completing the Annual Governance Statement on the Annual Return for 2021/22.
    All items were reviewed, and the Annual Governance Statement was completed.

11. To approve the Annual governance statement on the Annual Return for 2021/22.
    Following a vote it was unanimously resolved to approve the Annual Governance Statement

12. To consider the Accounting Statements by the members meeting as a whole
    The Accounting statements were considered

13. To approve the Accounting Statements for 2021/22 on the Annual Return.
    Following a vote it was unanimously resolved to approve the accounting statements and end of year bank reconciliation for 2021/22.

n.Accounting Statements to be signed and dated by the Chair
The Accounting Statements were signed and dated by the Chair.

• The Period for exercise of Public Rights was set
  The period was set for Monday 13th June – Friday 22nd July 2022.                     ACTION: Clerk

9. Planning

1. Applications Received

b.    Applications Decided

10. To consider any updates to approved outline planning permission 17/0603/OUT and to sections of the S106 agreement that was signed 21.12.2017.
An informal meeting had been held with the developer and a formal planning application was expected to be submitted soon.

11.To consider plans for the Annual Parish meeting to be held on Monday 16th May.
Cllrs Gagg and Beales gave their apologies for the Annual Parish meeting. Cllr Lloyd would bring post-it notes for any additional parishioner’s questions.                  ACTION: Cllr Lloyd

12.To report on any updates to the installation of new equipment on the Play Area.
It was expected that the new equipment would be installed in the next week.  Cllr Lloyd thanked Cllr Carter for her hard work in progressing the order.  Cllr Lloyd would put a notification on the Facebook group for the dates that the play area would be closed for the installation.                                                                                         ACTION: Cllr Lloyd

13.To consider plans for repainting the village benches and play area gates.
The Clerk had been unable to find a contractor to undertake the work.  Cllr Longson had offered to do the work and would need £75 in expenses.  Cllr Longson left the room while the remaining Councillor’s discussed the matter and voted.  Following a vote it was unanimously resolved to accept Cllr Longson’s offer of help and approve the expenses of £75. Cllr Marris offered to pressure wash the benches and gate prior to the work being undertaken.  The Council thanked Cllrs Longson and Marris for their offers of help.                                                                                                                                             ACTION: Cllrs Marris and Longson

14.To consider and develop plans to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, including payment for school photographs.
Plans and timings had been arranged. Bunting and flags were being purchased.  A new sign for the ‘Jubilee Play Area’ was to be purchased.  Two children from the school would cut the ribbon to the Play Area.  The school choir would sing at the event. Tree planting and the Tug of War were being organised.  This would be followed by a picnic.  The Venture Scouts would be asked if they would like a stand.  Cllr Carter was still waiting for more information about the ‘Jubilee Pudding’ so that plans could be made. Those running a cake stall would send a copy of their Public Liability Insurance to the Clerk. 

15.To receive an update on plans for the playing field.
Cllr Marris reported that the area was ready for sowing, and he was waiting for suitable weather.  Cllrs Lloyd and Longson would cut the grass around the trees.  It was noted that the fruit trees needed re-staking.                                      ACTION: Cllrs Lloyd, Longson and Marris

16.To consider insurance requirements and renewal for 2022/23
Quotes had been obtained for various levels of cover.  Following a discussion it was resolved unanimously to accept a quote of £955.97.  This was a significant increase from previous years but took into account all of the existing and new play equipment. The Clerk wold look at possible signage for the use of play equipment.                                                     ACTION: Clerk

17.Clerk and Councillors Reports (for information only), including a review of actions from minutes and matters that Councillors wish to be brought to the next or subsequent meetings.
No decisions may be made under this section, but councillors may wish to use this to flag up issues.
The Clerk confirmed that the additional parish Council that she was working for would contribute proportionately to the cost of running the printer, the mobile phone and office expenses.
Cllr Marris would look at getting the mower serviced.                                ACTION: Cllr Marris
The Clerk would check that the agreed additional grass cutting would take place before the Jubilee.                                                                                                               ACTION: Clerk

18.Correspondence
To note correspondence received:
 

19.Date of next meeting
Annual Parish meeting 7pm Monday 16th May 2022
Parish Council meeting 7.30pm Monday 13th June 2022

Meeting closed at 9.30pm
 

Signed…………………………………………       Date……………………………..